The
Encyclopedia Britannica describes perpetual motion as "the action
of a device that, once set in motion, would continue in motion forever,
with no additional energy required to maintain it." Such devices
are impossible on grounds stated by the first and second laws of
thermodynamics. Or are they?

Perpetual motion, although seemingly impossible to produce, has
fascinated both inventors and the general public for hundreds of years.
The enormous appeal of perpetual motion resides in the promise of a
virtually free and limitless source of power. The fact that
perpetual-motion machines cannot work because they violate the laws of
thermodynamics has not discouraged inventors and hucksters from
attempting to break, circumvent, or ignore those laws. Did
Orffyreus succeed in this endeavor?

Orffyreus, whose real name was Johann Ernst Elias Bessler (see
sidebar explanation), was born in Zittav, Saxony in 1680. At the
age of 32, Orffyreus proclaimed he had solved the enigma of perpetual
motion and thus begins our perplexing tale of mystique.

The first record we find of Orffyreus's invention can be found in the
Leipzig Acta Eruditorum (1717). From this work we know that
Orffyreus demonstrated a self-moving wheel in the town of Gera.
The wheel, measuring 3 feet in diameter and 4 inches thick, could be
started with a slight push and would quickly pick up speed. The
wheel was able to lift up a 7 pound weight hanging by a rope wrapped
around the wheel's axle. Orffyreus, who was not a very personable
man (he was run out of several towns) was dismayed at the people's lack
of interest - so he built a better wheel.

In 1713 at the town of Drashwitz he demonstrated a wheel 5 feet in
diameter and 6 inches wide that turned at 50 RPM and lifted a 40 pound
weight. Slowly, news of Orffyreus's invention began to
spread across the country.

In 1716, Count Karl from the state of Hesse-Cassel, heard of the
mystical Orffyreus and brought him to town. He quickly made
Orffyreus the town councilor and allowed him to live in the castle of
Weissenstein where Orffyreus could continue his work.

While in Hesse-Cassel, Orffyreus utilized the space of a garden shed
to build a 12 foot wheel that was 14 inches thick. Built in the
highest of secrecy, the innards were covered by a oiled cloth so that
only the axle were prone to view. This wheel was put on public
display for several months. The suspicious Orffyreus utilized a
guard supplied by the Count Karl (in fact, Orffyreus was so afraid
of someone stealing his invention that he even hired a guard to watch
over the guard supplied by Count Karl). The wheel was examined by
hundreds of people who verified that the wheel indeed had on external
power source. But, some still doubted Orffyreus's honesty.

It was rumored that Orffyreus had once been a watchmaker, a
suggestion that may have indeed been true since it is well known that
he had previously held several different occupations. Other
clockmakers came forward and proclaimed that had succeeded in
duplicating the device using basic 'timing' mechanisms used in
clocks. But, there no records of any other such devices being
built.

One famous mathematician of the day, Claus Wagner, refused to even
view the wheel. He calculated that it was impossible and against all
laws of physics so there was no point in even considering the
possibility.

Orffyreus published a vague paper in 1719 titled The Triumphant
Orffyrean Perpetual Motion. In his brief descriptions, Orffyreus
said the wheel depends upon weights that "constitute the perpetual
motion itself, since from them is received the universal movement which
they must exercise so long as they remain out of the centre of
gravity". Weights are put in a position so they can 'never obtain
equilibrium'. Some sketches in the book demonstrated the intricate
pattern of weights and balances, a feature that was probably used in the
construction of Orffyreus's wheel (witnesses described hearing weights
shifting while the wheel turned).

Is such a contraption possible? Marquis of Worcester first
described the 'overbalancing wheel' (presumable before Orffyreus created
his invention). He described a wheel with 2 rims, one inside the other.
Weights attached by strings in such a manner that weights coming down
shift to the outer rim while weights moving upward shift to the inside
rim (where they are 'lighter').

On 10/13/1717, the wheel was moved to a large room in the
castle. On 11/12/1717, officials examined the wheel in motion and
the doors of the room were sealed tightly shut. Two weeks later
the room was opened - the wheel was still spinning. To eliminate
any remaining doubt, the room was sealed again and reopened on
01/04/1718 where it was still spinning at it's initial 25 RPM.
Frank Edwards, in a 1956 article about the event (Bessler's Wonderful
Wheel), described the event:

On November 12, everything was ready. Count Karl
brought in a distinguished body of investigators: Professor Gravesande
of Leyden; Doctor Dietrich of Bohsen; Friedrich Hoffman, described as
a famous physician and an authority on mechanics; Christian Wolff,
Chancellor of the University of Halle and John Rowley, famed maker of
mathematical instruments. There were others of less renown, all
handpicked to present a broad front of talent and integrity.

They entered a large room (according to their reports) where they
found a huge cloth-covered wheel sitting in the center of the room.
Their measurements determined that it was twelve feet in diameter,
slightly more than fourteen inches in thickness - and it turned on an
iron shaft about three-quarters of an inch in diameter. The wheel
itself was described as lightly constructed wood. Like its
predecessors, Orffyreus had screened its innards by covering the space
from hub to rim with tightly-drawn oiled cloth.

Having determined the physical dimensions of the device, the
investigators proceeded to experiment with its abilities. Baron Fisher
was elected to set it in motion, which he found extremely easy. Just a
push with one hand and the huge wheel began to revolve ... slowly at
first, then faster and faster, until it reached its maximum speed of
twenty-six revolutions per minute.

After several experiments had been conducted, during which the wheel
had supplied power to perform small tasks, the body of learned
investigators carefully examined the room itself, sealing and locking
every possible place of egress or entrance. Then they left the room
and locked the door behind them, leaving the wheel spinning merrily at
its usual rate. To make certain that the lock on the door was
untouched during their absence, they sealed it with wax bearing the
imprint of their several devices which they had brought for that
purpose.

Fourteen days later, says the committee report, when they broke the
seals and opened the door, they found the big wheel revolving just as
they had left it. And again, on January 4 of 1718, they returned to
the sealed room. There was the big wheel, still spinning its defiance
of the accepted determinations of science.

The entire committee expressed the opinion that there was no fraud
involved in the operation of the wheel. They were convinced that they
had seen and tested a genuine perpetual motion device.

One of the witnesses, a Professor Gravesande, wrote to Sir Issac
Newton (who had once stated "The seekers after perpetual motion are
trying to get something from nothing.") about what he saw. He
stated, "... hollow wheel, a kind of drum, covered over with canvas
to prevent the inside from being seen. I have examined the axles and am
firmly persuaded that nothing from without the wheel in the least
contributes to its motion". Apparently Gravesande was
convinced that the wheel was the genuine article.

But this public exhibition left out one very important detail -
nobody was allowed to view the inner workings of the wheel. In
fact, only one person besides Orffyreus was ever allowed to view the
insides of the wheel - Count Karl himself. Count Karl was regarded
as one of the top scientists of his day. Exactly how it came to be that the Count was
allowed to view the wheel is unknown but it is generally believed that
Count Karl offered to back Orffyreus financially (and allow him to work
on the creation in his castle) on one condition - that he was allowed to
view the inner workings of the machine. The condition that
Orffyreus imposed on Count Karl of course, was that he could not
disclose what he saw. The Count vaguely described a
intricate system of weights and strings:

"When the oiled cloth was stripped away, said Count Karl, he
found himself gazing upon a very simple arrangement of weights and
levers. Orffyreus explained that he had conceived a system whereby the
weights one side of the wheel were farther from the axle than the
weights on the other side of the wheel, creating an imbalance which
caused the wheel to move. The secret, if there was a secret, lay in the
ingenious manner in which the weights on the ascending side of the wheel
were prevented from following their normal path next to the rim. Count
Karl said that these weights were blocked by small pegs which swung back
out of the way as the weight passed the zenith."

Count Karl often remarked that the machine was so simple he was
surprised that no one had discovered the secret before.

Now convinced that the dilemma of perpetual motion may have indeed
been solved, officials attempted to purchase the wheel from
Orffyreus. When asked how much Orffyreus would take for such a
revolutionary device, he replied '20,000 pounds'. This was a huge
amount for those days but officials and the Royal Society of London
attempted to raise the money believing that such a device would
revolutionize the process of energy production. The deal was ready
to conclude when one of the officials, Gravensande, was caught secretly
attempting to examine the wheel. This angered Orffyreus who considered
this act as doubt of his integrity. He promptly smashed the fragile wheel
to pieces.

In 1745, Bessler was commissioned to create a large windmill project
in Furstenburg. While working on the upper level of the mill,
Bessler slipped and fell to his death - died on November 30, 1745 at the age of 65.
Bessler continued building
perpetual motion wheels during the remaining years of his life but his
secret, if there indeed was one, died with him.

Sources

(1) Frank Edwards, "Bessler's
Wonderful Wheel", 1956

What's the story with Orffyreus's name change?

Nobody is sure why
Bessler decided to change his name during the heyday of his
invention. But, we do know how he came up with the name
Orffyreus. Bessler arranged the letters of the alphabet in a
circle and commenced to taking the 13th letter after each of the
letters in his name (BESSLER). This resulted in 'orffyre'
which was Latinized to 'orffyreus'.

Known Facts about the Wheel

- It was
known that the wheels were very light and well balanced.
- Noises were heard where parts had to move over one
another.
- The increase in power (not speed) was directly
proportional to its diameter.
- It was reported that the device acted as a brake if sped
too fast.
- It is well known that weights were installed at the
periphery of the wheel and that weights were said to move (swing)
inside the wheel.
- Weights could be heard hitting on the side of the wheel
going downward.
- It is also interesting to note that the wheel had to be
started with a push, if it were simply turned it would not start
properly.
- It is also reported that after installing the weights,
Bessler did something that looked like pushing down on a spring
that made a loud noise when let go.

Need more info?

John Collins, in
his book "Perpetual Motion... An Ancient Mystery Solved"
offers a interesting and well researched account of Bessler's
invention. He also provides a plausible theory on how such a
device could indeed work.

From the Encyclopeida Briticanna

Basically there
are three kinds of perpetual-motion devices. The first kind
includes those devices that purport to deliver more energy from a
falling or turning body than is required to restore those devices
to their original state. The most common of these, and the oldest,
is the overbalanced wheel. In a
typical version, flexible arms are attached to the outer rim of a
vertically mounted wheel. An inclined trough is arranged to
transfer rolling weights from folded arms on one side of the wheel
to fully
extended arms on the other. The implicit assumption is that the
weights exert more downward force
at the ends of extended arms than is required to raise them on the
other side, where they are kept closer to the axis of rotation by
the folding of the arms. This assumption violates the first law of
thermodynamics, also called the law of conservation of energy,
which states that the total energy of a
system is always constant.

What's this about 'secret codes'?

Orffyreus produced
several sketches of a perpetual motion machine. Each of these
sketches shows strange letters or 'codes' that nobody has yet to
decipher.

What we do know, is that he used a encryption code
called "atbash' to turn his name, Bessler, to Orffyreus. It is
highly possible that a similar encryption method was used in his
sketches.

Want more information?

Check out The
Mysterious Bessler Wheel site. This site includes a
discussion forum, detailed diagrams, and additional articles on
the possibility of perpetual motion.

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